Teva Harrison in the media

“A devastating and inspiring cancer memoir mixing drawings and essays, hope and dreadThe narrative amplifies the art, as each single-page comic is followed by a short essay with the same title, the words illuminating the theme with greater depth and nuance, the drawings conveying feelings and experiences so powerful that they transcend expression in words… An impressive graphic memoir.”

“Harrison’s graphic memoir of her life with cancer has been one of the most talked-about books of the year, and it is a refreshing, heartbreaking, charming look at the uncertainty of Harrison’s days. The near-universality of cancer in our lives and families makes this an indispensable read.”

“In-Between Days collects illustrations and essays that Teva Harrison began compiling following a diagnosis, at the age of 37, of metastatic breast cancer. Harrison openly shares her inner doubts, joys, and pain – not as a hero but as a human. That she does so makes this one of the most powerful memoirs on the subject.”

“This is a book of comic-style drawings about living with metastatic breast cancer. It is a deeply moving book and a vivid portrayal of Teva's life and the choices cancer forces her to make. Teva has always been an artist. Turns out, she is a genius at being human. Cancer touches all our lives. This book, thanks to Teva's courage, makes us all less afraid.”

“In her heartbreakingly honest exploration of these spaces in-between, Harrison provides a useful guide for those who cannot know the thoughts and fears of someone living with chronic illness; and for those experiencing a similar situation, the book shows that even in the most personal of journeys, you are not alone. At its heart, In-Between Days is a firm statement that joy and hope can exist in the same space as anxiety and fear; that each day we are given should be lived, as Harrison says, “With a sense of wonder and delight.”

“In-Between Days, a graphic novel that combines comics and short essays that explore what it is like to live with incurable cancer, is, all at once, heartbreaking and heartwarming, revealing and honest, all the while showcasing how beautiful and unfair life can be”

“Harrison’s drawing style is more freeform than finicky, and her linework has an appealing vulnerability. But even beyond that aesthetic quality, there’s a remarkable directness to seeing vignettes from a life coloured by cancer that cuts to the quick…The results are profoundly, achingly affecting…What’s striking is, as Sontag might say, her resistance to metaphoric thinking. There’s whimsy, to be sure: the author and a friend don tails and sequins and march in a mermaid parade, and Harrison conjures childhood summers spent stargazing and having flower-petal snowball fights. But when it comes to the day-to-day details of cancer, Harrison is unflinching in her efforts to tell—and show—the straight story.”

“Beautiful and often arresting account of living and dying with metastatic breast cancer…Harrison demonstrates with humour, with wisdom, with artistry, that cancer is by no means the end of the story.”

“ This is a very special book — Toronto author and artist Teva Harrison wrote and drew it as a way of dealing with her diagnosis at age 37 of metastatic breast cancer. Part graphic, part diary, it’s a moving book that approaches this devastating topic with joy, hope and heartbreak. She shares so openly how she feels about mortality that her great gift becomes showing us all how to live.”

“[Teva Harrison] has an unsentimental voice and a beautiful, generous eye, and together these gifts create an unforgettable book. While I wholeheartedly wish she had never had reason to write such a book, she has looked at her life unflinchingly and created a stunning book that should be shared widely.”

Walrus Magazine The Best Books of 2016:Kamal Al-Solaylee : “Also among my favourites this year are Madeleine Thien’s Giller Prize-winning Do Not Say We Have Nothing and Teva Harrison’s graphic memoir In-Between Days. In their own different and gorgeous ways, both books are testimonies to the power of art in times of extremities."

Walrus Magazine The Best Books of 2016:Emily Urquhart: “intimate and intensely-readable”

The Globe and Mail: A Year in Reading: “Stacey May Fowles: “Teva Harrison moved readers with her stunning graphic memoir, In-Between Days, a bighearted depiction of living with metastatic breast cancer, and one that offered much needed hope, wide-reaching comfort, and a necessary perspective on living well.”

“With grace and passion Teva Harrison paints a genuine portrait (literally and figuratively) of living with terminal cancer. Without ever descending into a pity party, Teva's honesty and ability to share the truth strikes a chord with all who read her graphic memoir.”